@Shutterstock. Weekly comings and goings and portfolio management news for the investment community in insurance.

Comings and Goings

Ameritas

Nebraska-based Ameritas has made several changes to its top leadership this year. Earlier this week, President and CEO Bill Lester announced officer elections, which included Jessie Goodwin as the new Vice President, Investments, Individual Fixed Income. The appointment was effective from 19 February.

Goodwin was previously Director, Investments, Portfolio Management. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst Charter holder and has been with the company since 2008, in a variety of roles.

Insurer Ameritas was founded in 1887 and has over five million customers.

Howden

Insurance broker, Howden, has promoted Karl-Heinz Holz as the new CEO of Howden Deutschland, effective 1 October 2023. He will take over from Luigi Sturani, CEO Europe, and Interim CEO of Germany in recent months.

Holz has broad experience in the German insurance sector, having been a member of the Board of EUROASSEKURANZ, Howden’s largest brand in the German market, for the last five years. He has also been CEO since 2021. Prior to this, he worked for Allianz Group in a variety of roles.

The new Howden Deutschland entity is created from what is currently EUROASSEKURANZ, which will form the future focus of Howden’s operating activities in the country.

Holz is joined by Kai Bockelmann, CEO of Himmelseher Sports Insurance, Marcel Braun, CEO of Hendricks, and Axel Meyer, Managing Director of Howden Caninenberg, in senior management roles.

According to Howden's statement, Holz will focus on customer satisfaction and integrating the Group's product offering in Germany.

Howden Broking is an independent provider of insurance brokerage, risk consulting, and employee benefits advice. It is headquartered in the UK and comprises owned businesses across Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East.

Its reinsurance broking and advisory business, Howden Tiger, operates across Howden’s international network, and is located in the US.

Established in 1994, Howden employs more than 12,500 people and, with its network partners, operates in more than 100 territories.

Helvetia

Fabian Rupprecht will join Helvetia as Chairman of the Executive Management and Group CEO on 1 October 2023. The Board of Directors at the Swiss insurer appointed him to the position last week.

Rupprecht has been CEO International Insurance and a member of the Management Board of the Dutch NN Group since 2018. He previously held various international management roles at AXA Group, including CEO of the MEA (Middle East and Africa) Region and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Emerging Markets and the Mediterranean Region.

Across his 28-year career in the insurance sector, he has also worked in the life and non-life insurance businesses.

Rupprecht will succeed Philipp Gmür, who announced his departure at the end of 2022 after 30 years at the Helvetia Group.
 
The decision on the successor as Group CEO of Helvetia is subject to the approval of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

Swiss Re

Swiss Re has given an update on the ongoing process of Sergio P. Ermotti’s resignation as Chairman of the Board following his appointment as CEO of UBS.

Ermotti will step down as Chairman of the Board of Directors on 30 April, after completing the agreed handover period, to fully focus on his role at UBS. As previously announced, Jacques de Vaucleroy, Vice Chairman and Lead Independent Director, is leading the search for a successor and will chair the Board in the interim.

"It has been a great honour for me to chair Swiss Re over the past two years, and I wish to thank the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee and all employees for their commitment and support,” said Ermotti. “Swiss Re's strategic goals are clear, and I am convinced that the company is well positioned to thrive.”

De Vaucleroy said that the “search for a successor has started”.

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